SAMGS Australia Newsletter 58

Mediterranean Garden Society
South Australian Branch
Newsletter 58
Spring 2014
Climate Compatible Gardening
PO Box 199, Glen Osmond 5064
Diary Dates - 2014
From the Branch Head
The recent spell of cold weather seemed to be more bonechilling than I recall from winters past; maybe it‘s just my
bones getting older and my hair getting thinner but I‘ve taken
to wearing a beanie and scarf when I go into my garden. I
observed the chill in my greenhouse too. It is not well sealed
against drafts and damp and some plant treasures
succumbed to rots and tissue collapse. Ah, well, too bad.
They weren‘t meant for me and their removal has made way
for a new venture. I bought a small mini-greenhouse with a
heating pad. The device has three parts; a tray bottom, a
clear polycarbonate ‗roof‘ that lifts off and has some
ventilation holes, and the heating pad. The bottom tray has a
large area of perforations so I lined it with a double-folded
sheet of aluminium foil and covered it with a layer of perlite
about 3cm deep. With the heat pad placed on top I was
ready to go.
Members’ Meetings
Some cuttings of a shrubby basil snaffled from the main
street of Willunga were inserted in a small pot filled with a
free-draining soil-less mix. Placed in the mini-greenhouse
they have taken off and are clearly growing without any
losses. Much better than my usual score when I try to
propagate softwood cuttings.
Open Gardens
Our kitchen window sill has been occupied for some weeks
by half-a-dozen small pots with various amaryllid seeds
impossible to obtain. The seeds are of two distinct types: one
kind are thin black and papery, and the others are large fat
and round with first leaves and radicle already emerging
when I took them out of their seed packets. Both kinds were
proving worryingly slow to germinate; especially the twenty
seeds of Scadoxus membranaceous that cost $5 each. (The
South African dealer made a special expedition to harvest
them from a distant and remote farm in another province).
Christmas function
Things improved markedly once the pots of seeds were
placed in my new toy.
Lyn Elzinga-Henry extends an
invitation to members to visit her
garden.
see page 18
Tiny green leaves and fat spotty red and green radicles have
suddenly burst forth.
Mediterranean Garden Society SA Branch
Spring 2014
Goodman Building
Hackney Road
(next to Wine Centre)
7.30 pm start
September 11 - Steven Wells
The power of gardens to heal
Steven is a horticultural therapist
working for Austin Health in Victoria
where he designs gardens and uses
them to help those recovering from
serious ill health
November 13 – Members’ evening
Committee Meeting
October 9
Garden of Discovery
Working Bees in 2014
Sunday, September 14
see pages 7-8, 10, 19-20 and 22
Volunteers are needed to help at
Members‘ Open Gardens. Please
contact Kate Chattaway if you can help
(82768780 or email:
[email protected])
December 6
To be held in the Goodman Building
from 4.00 - 8:30pm.
A guided walk will be booked at 5pm,
allowing people time to drop off food in
the meeting room and to wander in the
gardens before the tour.
Bring a garden related Kris Kringle gift
to the value of $10.
Further details re catering to follow.
The purpose behind all this fairly easy activity is to get
plants, and in good time flowers and more seeds.
When those inspiring scenes of wild-flowers appear on
the MGS webpages remember the beauty can be
replicated in your garden with a little relaxed effort on
your part. Then you too can enjoy, as we have done
over the last few cold but sunny days, the fabulous
sight of dozens and dozens of crocus popping up and
opening wide in the grass and borders where we have
planted and encouraged them to proliferate adding a
scattering of fertiliser in winter.
Trevor Nottle
Boophane haemanthoides
Previously the window sill had been commandeered by
yours truly to house ten small Tupperware style tubs.
Each of these contained a small quantity of water and a
batch of wild cyclamen seeds. The water, changed
every day for three days with tepid water, served to
wash away the outer coating of the seeds which contains a growth inhibitor on the surface. Once this short
process had been completed the seeds were sown in
small pots and barely covered with fine aquarium sand
and left out in the wintry weather. Within two weeks
dozens of tiny leaves appeared. They will be left alone
for this year and the next. Watered occasionally and
fed with a weak wash of liquid fertiliser (low nitrogen
ratio please) the tiny tubers will be large enough to
plant in the garden by then.
In the same situation seeds of wild daffodils, jonquils,
tulips, crocus, scillas, irises, hellebores and muscari are
also sown down in small pots, similarly covered with
sand and left to endure the chilly nights and cold days.
By mid-August the first leaves will be emerging though
some seeds may not germinate for a year or two; they
can be somewhat spasmodic so do not throw out the
pots and soil after the first year.
Farewell to Winter
Anne-Marie Holland (Summertown)
After a long cold winter it is a pleasure to see the early
blossom of Prunus mume ‗Splendens‘, (Flowering
Apricot) , a medium sized tree with masses of double,
deep pink flowers. What I love about this tree is that it
is attractive during every season, particularly in autumn
and spring when we love its glorious colours.
For the past month or so the Hardenbergia violaceae
has been beautiful. Here it has completely covered a
metal stand and is looking glorious.
First flowering of Cyclamen coum — 2012 seeds
Mediterranean Garden Society SA Branch
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rather than the gardening press.
Book Reviews by Trevor Nottle
That it has been so over-looked is much to be
regretted as it has the authority to change perceptions
and biases that colour understanding of the nature and
purpose of garden making and gardening.
There is no excuse
for ugliness
The authority of this book derives from rigorous
research in the West, at the Dumbarton Oaks
Research Centre for Landscape under the direction of
Professor Michael Conan and three international
research scholars based there, and from many years
of extensive study among primary resources at the
University of Istanbul, the Topkapi Sarayi museum, the
Berlin Islamic Museum, the British Library, the British
Museum, Vienna National library and other major
repositories of information and images of Ottoman
gardens.
Falling in love with our best
plants and gardens
Clive Blazey
The first part of the title comes from a quote by Latrobe
Bateman who designed Heronswood (home of Diggers
Garden Club) after he had come to Melbourne in the
1800s after designing the Crystal Palace. The book is
written from Clive‘s point of view as someone who has
had a love affair with flowers forever and wants to help
gardeners choose plants and planting styles that will
work beyond spring using perennials rather than
annual bedding plants.
This is Clive‘s seventh book and the focus of the book
is creating beautiful gardens by choosing plants that
are garden worthy and importantly, appropriate for the
Australian climate. Clive references inspirational
gardens to illustrate planting ideas of which he uses
Cloudehill, Heronswood and St Erth for colours and
combinations and includes our botanic gardens
(especially Adelaide) among others as inspirational.
There are also some thought-provoking quotes on the
back page.
A GARDEN FOR THE SULTAN
Gardens and Flowers in the Ottoman Culture
Nurhan Atasoy, Kitapyayanevi, Istanbul, 2011
Such is the strength of the Anglo-centric nature of the
literature of gardening that this astonishing book has
taken 3 years to penetrate the collective consciousness
of even very keen gardeners, and then thanks to the
books column of an international décor magazine
Mediterranean Garden Society SA Branch
While the broad topography of Ottoman gardens has
been explored in depth by garden historians seeking to
set them in context alongside other major gardenmaking cultures, it is the depth of revelation into the
world of flowers admired and loved by the Ottoman
Turks which are explored in great detail including
commentaries by sultans, courtiers, poets, academics
and gardeners across the centuries of the Ottoman
empire. The text is lavishly supported by images drawn
from a vast range of documentation rarely considered
by garden historians based in the West due, perhaps,
to the challenges thrown up by reading the Arabic texts
and the difficulties of accessing libraries in non-English
speaking countries. Otherwise ephemeral plants are
recorded in paintings, textiles, jewellery, ceramics,
tiles, furniture, pietra dura, arms and other every-day
items. These reveal much more than tulips, so loved
by the Ottomans; ranunculus, violets, roses, lilacs,
peach blossom, irises, muscari, larkspurs, poppies,
jonquils in variety, carnations, aquilegias, anemones,
turk‘s-cap liliums, corn-flowers and a surprising
diversity of hyacinths including many doubles that are
depicted along with pavilions, walks, garden viewing
towers, fountains, arcades and courts.
From the perspective of Mediterranean gardeners this
book demonstrates how much has been lost since the
Ottoman empire went into decline and eventually
collapsed in 1922. Apart from a handful of tulip and
hyacinth bulbs passed to Western gardeners by the
hands of Ambassador Ogier Ghislaine de Busbecq by
way of Vienna, our appreciation and use of the plants
of Turkey, bulbs in particular, has largely grown from
the re-invention of them at the hands of Dutch
growers. Perhaps it might just be time for a revival of
the originals among Mediterranean gardeners!
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Say hello to Aloes
Kate Chattaway
It is a bit of a mystery why we don‘t
make better use of aloes in the garden.
They are so well suited to the climate.
Is it because they look so much like
desert plants? Do we believe they are
not
aesthetically
Mediterranean
enough to blend well with more
characteristic plants like rosemary or
lavender?
Michael Dent emigrated to Australia
from South Africa where so many
aloes are native and has filled his
Queensland garden with species aloes
Attractive yellow flowering aloe in Michael Dent‘s Brisbane garden
and aloe hybrids. As a result of the
wide range he has used, he says that they can give him 10 months flowering a year.
Aloe vera, the medicinal plant from Madeira, is probably the best known of the aloes but has relatively uninspiring
flowers, giving no hint of the huge range of aloes in terms of foliage, flower colour and form. They are outstanding
for their stunning winter flowers and some have particularly interesting foliage colour like the rich red leaves of Aloe
cameronii.
Beautiful contrast of Aloe
barbarae planted against a
sandstone wall in the
Bradbury
garden
of
designer Jo Connolly, in
the Adelaide Hills and
another showing how well
the architectural form of
this aloe enhances a
dramatic piece of garden
art.
Hybridizers have been improving aloes for the past 30 years. They have bred longer flowering plants with a wider
range of colours; you can now find red flowered aloes with names
like “Erik the Red” and bicolour orange and yellow ones.
Bright enough to cheer you up on the most wintery day – Aloe
“Super Red‖ (left) was hybrized in South Africa.
There are even some aloes, for example Aloe “Fairy Pink”, that are
a delicate shade of pale pink on a small plant which would not look
out of place in a cottage
garden scheme. This aloe
will sit happily together
with the softer, more
muted hues of a range of
perennials.
Aloes usually have a whorl of leaves and the flowers appear on a spike
made up of many tiny downward facing bell-like florets. Generally the
flowers are a vibrant orange and they can be held on single stems or be
multi-headed and appear like exotic candelabra. They prefer full sun, well
drained soil, some water in summer and drier in winter. Aloes do not
tolerate frosts but can easily put up with some drought. They obviously
grow well in Queensland as seen (opposite) in the Roma Street Parklands.
Mediterranean Garden Society SA Branch
Spring 2014
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But aloes are proving equally adaptable to the Mediterranean climate in
Adelaide. A wonderful range of species and aloe cultivars surrounds the
historic glasshouse in the Adelaide Botanical Gardens. They are planted
together with agaves, crassulas and cotyledons, showing how they can
potentially be integrated into a garden scheme if you have the right aspect and
drainage. This is the best time of year to see them at their showiest.
Aloes in Roma Street Parklands
Aloes are also being embraced for their cheerful disposition in Western
Australia, according to garden designer and SAMGS member Nieve Smyth.
―Aloes have become very desirable because of the cultivars and their amazing
winter colour,‖ said Nieve. ―And they are very architectural, even without their
flowers. They grow very well in Perth and can be mixed in with succulents, as
well as being waterwise. I recently planted a white walled courtyard with two
aloe cultivars and two kniphofia in clumps because of their similar flower form.‖
Aloes and agaves look remarkably similar, each having a rosette of thick
fleshy leaves with spines. They are both short stemmed with the plant base sitting just above the soil surface. It is
easy to think that they must be closely related, but they are not. Aloes come from Africa and Arabia while Agaves
are native to Mexico, the southern and western United States and tropical South America.
They are monocots like grasses - sharing clasping leaves that wrap around the stem. And they also have the same
ability to store water in their leaves but while the leaves appear almost the same, the structure is different. Agaves
have fibrous leaves hence so many of the genus have economic uses, for instance in making things like sisal from a
plant like Agave sisalana. By contrast aloes have a rather sappy internal structure.
Aloes and agaves have similar flowers. However aloes will flower throughout their lives, as distinct from agaves
which flower only once in their 10 to 30 year life span and then die. The two genus are an example of ―convergent
evolution‖ – showing characteristics which are adaptions to a harsh environment in different parts of the world.
Aloes have been used on North Terrace as part of the landscape
design for the cultural precinct which includes the SA Museum and
the Art Gallery of South Australia. The aloe used is a hybrid called
Aloe ―Topaz‖ and it is part of the scheme created by landscape
architects TCL, a landscape architecture firm well known for
experimenting with native and drought tolerant plants in formal
settings. This aloe has been planted in a long but narrow row and is
small and restrained and therefore could be useful in a domestic
garden.
One aloe that has already been enthusiastically embraced by garden
designers and seems to be quite distinct from most of the other
members of the family is the fan shaped aloe, Aloe plicatilis. It has a
single short stem which divides into flattened grey green leaves of
multiple fans. This succulent is quite hard to find because it grows
slowly and is hard to propagate. Hillside Herbs in McLaren Vale,
which has a good range of aloes and agaves, tell me that you cannot
propagate this aloe from offsets. If you can track one down, this is a
useful feature plant with a well controlled growth habit .
Aloe ciliaris climbing over a cactus
Mediterranean Garden Society SA Branch
An
interesting aloe with a different sort of habit is the common climbing
aloe or Aloe ciliaris. Recurved leaves act as hooks to allow the aloe
to climb. It comes from the Eastern Cape of South Africa where
these plants form dense thickets on the coast and in dry river
valleys. It is the fastest growing of all the aloes and is easily raised
from cuttings. To learn more about aloes, visit the Botanical
Gardens or take a trip down to Hillside Herbs at McLaren Vale. You
might be missing out on the next big thing in garden design if you
don‘t!
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Remember your Berries
Chris Perry
Perry’s Fruit and Nut Nursery
Thornless blackberry
has the largest fruit of
all the brambles. Its
high acidity suits jam
making. It is a very
Have you tried these berries?
vigorous
Raspberry
manages
(Autumn Bliss) will
plant
harsher
conditions.
fruit in March! And it
will go on fruiting
until it gets too cold.
Usually this is in
June or July.
Imagine
picking
raspberries
from
March to July!
Youngberry is like
a
big,
delicious
blackberry
except
our plants have no
thorns.
They
are
quite
climate
and
soil
tolerant
and
will
grow in most places.
Like
all
the
brambleberries they
like a soil high in
organic matter and
shade
from
harsh
the
western
summer sun.
Boysenberry is the
best flavoured of all
the bramble berries.
They are big and
black and delicious.
But they are thorny.
If you want peak
size
and
flavour
plant boysenberry.
Loganberry
hybrid
is
a
between
raspberry
and
blackberry. The first
fruit ripen early and
the whole crop lasts
from mid to late summer. It is famed for jam making but
is also delicious fresh. The fruit freeze beautifully.
Mediterranean Garden Society SA Branch
Spring 2014
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Open Gardens Australia
Open Gardens are ephemeral. One year they are open
and the next they are not. Owners rise to the challenge
of opening their gardens but often need to take a
break. So as visitors, we cannot rely on seeing a
garden next spring because we missed it this year.
Conflicting commitments and ill health can all play a
part. Sometimes, as is the case with the outstanding
Taddeo Garden designed by Virginia Kennett, the
owners are doing an extension and will be too taken up
with building work to open their gates.
New MGS members Lyn and John Lochert at Waikerie
are hanging up their gardening gloves and opening
their garden for the last time this spring. Their garden
has been featured in SA Life. They will be welcoming
visitors over four days from 18th to 21st October and by
appointment from 22nd to 25th October. The address is
12 Ziegler Road, Ramco, Waikerie. If you are going to
the Renmark Rose Festival, which runs from 17th to
25th October, then why not take in the Lochert‘s lovely
garden en route.
So I would urge everyone to make the effort to see as
many Open Gardens as they can manage this spring,
which is the busiest season of the year. We are
fortunate in South Australia to have an enthusiastic
team of OGA selectors seeking out the best local
gardens - large and small - to display the astonishing
range of plants we can grow in our wonderful
Mediterranean climate.
If you would like to participate in the Open Gardens
scheme and want to investigate the idea further, then
please contact me or Virginia Sheridan.
Kate Chattaway
Members’ Gardens Opening in Spring
Anlaby - October 25 and 26 (see p 17)
Jane Littleton’s Garden - October 4 and 5
20 Douglas Street, Magill
Jane‘s garden at Magill has been featured on
Gardening Australia and is an inspiration, full of
interesting and carefully considered plants. Frugality
too is a hallmark of this beautiful plot as you will see
from the recently rebuilt chook house, constructed out
of free pallets from a local store, just for the price of a
few screws and bolts.
Summing up the anticipation of a new season, Jane
says‖ I love the garden in spring. Everything bursts out
of its winter dormancy. There is an abundance of
growth, delicate flowers, seeds that have germinated,
Mediterranean Garden Society SA Branch
surprises of self seeded plants that have pushed up in
odd places. I enjoy the buzz of insects and the sound
of birdsong.
Spring here can be fleeting but that early flush of
growth always amazes me. Right now I am cutting
back, replanting and improving the soil and hoping that
spring will bring the joy that I anticipate. Even as I am
doing this, I find that there are little treasures poking
their noses up and providing winter pleasure, clumps
of Galanthus nivalis – snowdrops, the first primroses,
violets, cyclamen and some early daffodils.‖
Jane admits that her garden is not what she would call
―politically correct‖. She grows what she likes: shrubs,
perennials, some roses, some tough succulents and
Mediterranean plants too. She has rainwater tanks but
The popular Littleton garden, showing a choice range
of perennials and flowering shrubs
does not water excessively. ―Some of the plants that I
like are not really for a hot climate such as we have but
I put them in anyway because I love them. Most
actually flourish but I do have failures too. Gardeners
need to be persistent and I am.‖
She hopes that in the first week of October there will
be plenty to interest people who visit the garden. ―I
love to share the things in the garden that give me so
much pleasure and to show people what can be done
on an ordinary suburban block.‖
Hamlyn Cottage - October 18 and 19
394 Springs Road, Mt Barker Springs
Tupelo Grove, Hillside Herbs and Bickleigh Vale
Organic Seedlings, who all supply the plants for
Sophie Thompson‘s gardening endeavours, will have
stands selling plants. Robyn Powell, Lorraine
Thompson, Diana Bickford and Harry Harrison
(President of the Rare Fruit Society) will all be doing
talks. Basketry SA will be present and doing
demonstrations as will the Beekeepers‘ Society of SA.
Entrance is $10 for adults and refreshments will be
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available. For more details on the times of talks at the
open garden visit www.sophiespatch.com.au (this will
be live by the 5th September).
You can also follow Sophie and the happenings in her
The Garden of Jenny Bruse
What a delight it was to visit the garden that Jenny
Bruse and her late husband Daryl have created over
the last 40 years.
First impressions on yet another of the endlessly chilly
August days we have had this year, was that
somehow, Jenny had kept up a consistent gardening
effort throughout winter and the whole garden was
immaculate. Jenny is clearly a perfectionist but every
little nook and cranny is packed with images and
stories that unfold as you wander and question what
you are seeing.
garden on Facebook by liking Sophie Thomson public
figure.
Open Gardens Australia
South East garden tour - November 3-5
Switching the focus away from the metropolitan centre,
Open Gardens has organized a three day luxury bus
tour of seven exceptional private gardens in the South
East of South Australia. The Sensational South East
trip will include Stordalen Place with its tree collection
and series of garden rooms filled with over 500 roses,
shrubs and perennials. There is a Melbourne Cup Day
lunch in the garden of OGA selector Taffy Burchell,
which boasts a beautiful woodland and roses leading to
an abundant vegetable plot with espaliered fruit trees.
Another highlight of the tour is the garden of MGS
member Glenys Mulligan at St Mary‘s Vineyard in
Penola. This features fine stone walling and a broad
palette of Mediterranean plants including salvias,
verbenas and roses cleverly combined with striking
foliage. Accommodation on the tour is at the Barn
Palais, featuring rugosa and Delbard roses as well as
areas of dry climate plantings and a bog garden.
One of seven gardens on display for the south-east tour
Mediterranean Garden Society SA Branch
How lucky we are to have dedicated gardeners that
manage to stay in one garden for long enough to build
a detailed story. Jenny will say that her garden is
simply full of all the bits and pieces that she has seen
and liked over the years and while this may well be
true, those that have thrived in this quite difficult site
are very much in the Mediterranean palette.
As you enter the garden your eye is drawn down the
sweep of the driveway and off to the little pathways
that break up the slope leading to what are essentially
terraces of plantings in front of the house. At the end of
winter this section of the garden is more green than
coloured but a line of weeping mulberries gives form
and structure with under plantings of Salvia leucantha,
Salvia microphylla 'Hot Lips', Iris unguicularis, all still
sporting flowers, as well as correa, hebes, sedums,
daisies and bulbs.
Just below and moving into the shade of the eaves
Plectranthus argentatus is just finishing amongst
Liriope spicata and other ground covers.
With Jenny in tow we discovered we had already
missed a whole section of the garden that sits on a
high shoulder to the right of the driveway. It is a single
file walk but a totally delightful wander through thick
mulch with eucalypts overhead and mostly native
under plantings spiced up with some Mediterranean
hardy favourites like cistus and phlomis that worked
well amongst the acacias, correas and native hibiscus
Alyogyne huegelii that was budded up and looking very
healthy.
The site is quite strangely shaped, steeply sloping and
with the canopy of eucalypts, no doubt quite dry. The
house is built into the slope midway down, with the
back of the house on two levels. This means that as
you stand on the second level balcony you are up in
the canopy of a golden elm Ulnus glabra 'Lutescens'
which is filled with bird cages of every size and
vintage. At every turn there is a decorative punctuation
to a bed or a step or sculptural element that reveals
itself as you turn the corner. Many of these have been
fashioned by Jenny or one of the family. Sheds and
practical parts of the garden like the vegie and herb
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areas are labeled with old wooden planks that are
painted to make beautifully decorative signs.
The plantings at the back of the house have a much
freer more Mediterranean feel with persimmon, quince,
pomegranates and citrus for fruit and flower and an
abundance of japonicas, phlomis, euphorbias, salvias,
miscanthus, lavender and wallflowers adding year
round colour and fragrance.
Jenny has for years scoured the roadside hard rubbish
to fill out her extremely impressive birdcage collection
as well as recycling an amazing range of pieces into
garden statements. Apparently, Daryl eventually joined
in the mission and anytime they went driving all eyes
searched the roads for interesting pieces. The metal
cot that once held the children now makes a most
impressive display container for succulents and what
looked like a beautifully shaped large pot was actually
formerly the bowl of a concrete mixer, once again from
the roadside collection.
All the way down the slope retaining walls and terraces
the possums have used them for over wintering. Under
the eaves, son Nick (now with children of his own) has
made special little boxes for pardalotes (Pardalotus
punctatus). Apparently these tiny birds will nest in
banks if the entrance is long enough so the boxes
have black painted PVC tubes attached to give them
the sense of security they need.
All this rich detail comes from a garden loved and
nourished for very many years. I have just skimmed
over the range and depth of plantings, just enough to
give a sense of this truly inspiring garden, for the full
picture you really do need to see for yourself.
Lynn Elzinga-Henry
The Caper Bush
Wendy Chapman (Cumberland Park)
Did you know that you could grow and harvest your
own capers? You know, those funny little green,
wrinkly, berry like things that are critical ingredients of
much of the Mediterranean type food we love to cook
and eat, like pizza and the traditional Italian
Puttanesca sauce used on pasta.
Capers are the unopened flower buds of the plant
called Capparis spinosa. The buds are harvested and
then dried, salted or pickled for our pleasurable
consumption.
Capparis is a genus of about 250 species, some
sixteen of which are native to Australia and for
thousands of years they have been an important food
source for Aboriginal people.
are fashioned with sleepers, rocks and paving. From a
good sized courtyard nestled into the L shape of the
back of the house you can look out and around to
smaller
pockets
of
plantings
with
the
invitation of a staircase
here, a curving hedge
there and always some
beautiful surprise to
discover. That may be
a tightly rolled ball of
barbed wire, a bowl
that is actually a
ceramic sculpture of a
sitting lady, red striped
skirt held wide, ceramic
or metal birds pegged
in rows to a post or a
quietly elegant water
feature. Besides the birdcages in the trees there are
also nesting boxes that the lorikeets use in spring after
Mediterranean Garden Society SA Branch
Capparis spinosa or the Caper Bush is native to the
Mediterranean, Northern Africa and the Middle East
where capers have been grown and eaten for over
5000 years. The production of capers is an important
industry in many countries including Syria, Turkey,
Croatia, Greece and of course Italy.
It has been found that Capparis spinosa rupestris
grows really well in the hot and arid parts of SA and in
central Australia. It is a hardy perennial which needs
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full sun and thrives best if planted on a mound of well
drained material over rich soil to which compost and
lime has been added before planting. The plant will
need to be watered for the first couple of years but after
that will survive just on rainfall, so it is very appropriate
for our climate and water restrictions. Adding organic
mineral mix to the soil in spring and autumn means it
will produce more capers. In the wild the plant grows in
very poor soils and in some incredibly amazing places
– like hanging off a dry stone wall ten metres off the
ground!
If you want to enjoy the flowers, then you can harvest
the fruit that develops after the flowers die and pickle
that fruit to eat. You can also pickle and eat the small
young berries (known as Caperberries) and the young
shoots and leaves can be eaten fresh or pickled.
C. spinosa grows to one metre tall, 3–4 m wide and
drapes along the ground. Some capers have spines but
there are spineless ones available so best to look for
those. Cut the plant back to a stump in winter to
maximise the harvest, it rapidly re-shoots when the
weather warms up. The leaves are green, tough and
rounded.
You could grow this plant in a pot if you do not have a
suitable spot in your garden. Because the plant
develops a very long tap root, the pot would need to be
at least 1200 mm high and fewer berries will be
produced than if it was in the ground. C. spinosa does
not like competition from other plants or from weeds, so
bear this is mind when deciding where in your garden
to plant it and find a spot where it will have a bit of
room to thrive and keep those weeds well away.
The C. spinosa flowers are very attractive with white
petals and purple stamens, opening in the early
morning and lasting just 24 hours but they are
continually opening along the stem. However, if you
Dry salting or pickling capers in white vinegar is not
hard or expensive to do and the internet will provide a
number of different and simple ways to do it. Then all
that remains is to start cooking so get your favorite
Puttanesca sauce recipe out.
You might not know that here in SA we have a world
expert on capers, Brian Noone. Brian has done all the
hard work on how to grow capers in SA. He has grown
and studied capers all over the world for over 25 years.
Have a look at his website (www.caperplants.com), it is
really interesting.
PORT ELLIOT
WALK
want to harvest the capers you shouldn‘t see the open
flowers as you will be up very, very early to harvest
them before they open and the bud is still tight. The
capers or unopened flowers should be harvested every
ten days to encourage the flowers to develop along the
growing stem. You should be able to harvest 5 -7 kg
per plant every year. Remember that capers cannot be
eaten raw, they must be dry salted or pickled.
Mediterranean Garden Society SA Branch
Sunday 21 September, 2014
Enjoy four fantastic gardens in a
walk through
the historic village of Port Elliot
A strong sense of community has brought
together diverse talents and passions
represented by art, history and a love of plants
and gardens. Four contrasting gardens and
studios will showcase sculpture, ceramics,
pottery and sustainable planting plans.
Spring 2014
10
You will visit an historic garden first established in1853;
a garden with a Mediterranean palette of plants graced
by sculpture and ceramics, a simple Sculpture Garden;
and a plant lovers garden packed with Australian
natives, herbs and veggies.
New faces on the SAMGS Committee
Two enthusiastic gardeners Wendy Chapman and
Rosey Boehm were welcomed onto the committee as
new members at the AGM in July.
Wendy Chapman embraced horticulture as a career
change after many years at the centre of power in the
state government. She has studied all aspects of
horticulture at Urrbrae TAFE and now works in a
garden centre as well as tending her own garden in
Clarence Park.
Rosey Boehm, from Bowden, is both a photographer
and garden designer. She works for fellow designer
Steve Hailstone in addition to her own projects. Rosey
regularly does photography workshops and has offered
to do a talk for MGS on how to improve your garden
photographs. We hope to include this useful
presentation in our 2015 programme.
Wendy has taken on the role of organizing gifts for the
raffle, often the highlight of our meetings, especially for
the winners. Rosey has put her hand up for the newly
created job of keeping our fellow members in the
international MGS up to date by providing their website
with information on what is going on in the South
Australian branch. This can then be accessed by local
members as well as those abroad.
Running SAMGS
Committee members organize the program for the
year, run the meetings and outings as well as putting
together this newsletter. They take responsibility for
the Garden of Discovery at the Waite by running a
number of working bees throughout the year.
TICKETS $15 FOR
FOUR GARDENS.
TICKETS ONLY
AVAILABLE ON THE
DAY FROM SOUTH
SEAS BOOKS AND
TRADING
53 NORTH TCE,
PORT ELLIOT.
A MAP OF THE
GARDENS WILL BE
PROVIDED UPON
PURCHASE.
NO TICKETS
AVAILABLE AT THE
GARDENS.
They also help to promote the concept of gardening
with our Mediterranean climate by organizing helpers
at open gardens owned by MGS members and taking
other opportunities to spread the word, for example
with an MGS stand at the recent garden fair at Carrick
Hill.
Branch chair Trevor Nottle keeps everyone up to date
with what is happening in the wider world of
Mediterranean gardening by liaising with our
colleagues in the international Mediterranean Garden
Society, which includes members in North America
and across Europe from Greece to Portugal and Italy
to Germany.
Kate Chattaway
My rule of thumb for mulch is to double
my initial estimate of bags needed and
add three. Then I’ll only be two bags
short.
Anon
Mediterranean Garden Society SA Branch
Spring 2014
11
Hamlyn Cottage
Sophie Thomson (Mt. Barker Springs)
Three years after purchasing our new property ‗Hamlyn Cottage‘ at Mt. Barker
Springs, we are opening the garden as part of Open Gardens Australia. We
are not new to this process having opened our previous garden ‗The Chapel‘
at Ashton over a number of years. The only difference is that we have moved
from an idyllic gardening environment in one of the higher rainfall areas of the
Adelaide Hills, to the dryer side of the hills where living or should I say
growing is not easy. We have reduced the 1500mm rainfall to just 660mm; left
a sheltered valley where drying winds never bothered us for an exposed
windy hillside where the winds even dry plants out in winter; increased the
severity and season of frosts from minus 2 degrees to minus 4 from late April
till early November; and left behind the beautiful spring-like water to replace it
with salty water which hits about 2500ppm.
Logically as gardeners we have to be crazy, however we made the decision
to move closer to our children‘s school when our twins were born in 2006. On
the journey to our current home, we lived in Oakbank for a year because I
thought that is where I wanted to be. When the temperature under the
veranda reached minus 8 and even the frost hardy plants died I changed my
mind. A gardening friend of mine then suggested that I should move to Mt
Barker where the school is located, because it had better weather for gardening. Mt Barker was never on my wish
list but this clever person knew my hot button. Ashton was always foggy, Oakbank was frigid, but Mt Barker had
better weather for gardening. Worth considering. That very day I looked up what was available to rent and saw a
newly restored, heritage listed cottage built in 1847. The rest is history. We moved in within a month and rented this
house for a few years before we were able to buy it in late August 2011.
The property is almost one and half hectares (3 acres) and is literally a former cow paddock around what was a
ruin. I had the garden plan for the property drawn up, even before we knew we could buy it. About half of the
property has been developed with garden or produce, and the remaining area will in time include the shedding and
a paddock for stock. The best thing about the property, apart from the lovely stone building, is the view directly north
to the Mt Barker summit, and the soil.
My goal was always to create a glorious
garden with a fully productive organic
vegetable garden and orchard, enough to feed
our ravenous tribe. I dream of having home
grown fruit and vegetables for the whole
twelve months of the year. The vegies are not
a problem, however twelve months of fruit is a
big goal. So far we have planted over a
hundred different fruit and nut trees and there
are still over twenty citrus to go in. Once we
are fully productive, we will store the harvest in
the large cellar under our house, and we may
set up a cool room as well.
We have been working in many different directions but all the threads are finally starting to come together. We
decided to invest in the orchard first, because fruit trees take a couple of years to become productive - and growing
our own fruit will cut our fruit bill tremendously. As part of the orchard management, we run chooks, ducks and
geese. The chooks and ducks eat the insect pests, give us free eggs and wonderful manure and the geese are
amazing lawn mowers. In time the orchard will be entirely netted to keep the other birds out.
While I aspire to the ‗River Cottage‘ life, the reality of this property always seems to be more like ‗The Good Life‘!
Most of the time I see the funny side. The geese which mow the orchard lifted the canopy of the trees higher than I
Mediterranean Garden Society SA Branch
Spring 2014
12
expected and then decided to chew on the trunks of a number of the larger fruit trees, killing them. I also did not
think through how the chooks and geese would interact with the tree lucerne hedge. Chooks kept scratching
around their base and disturbing the young plants so I used corflute tree guards to protect them and a row of our
baled hay on either side of the rows to protect the root zone. The geese then ate everything that poked its head out
of the guard and then jumped on top of the bales to put their heads down into the guard and ate the lot!! Aargh!
The vegie garden keeps us in bountiful harvests – just wish River
Cottage‘s Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall would move in to cook it for us,
as that is not one of my gifts! Down the track we will annexe part of our
paddock for bulk crops which take up a lot of space, such as potatoes,
onions and pumpkins. In the meantime I have been enjoying trying new
vegies and last year did really well with New Guinea beans and Tokyo
bekana.
However it is not all wine and roses – I have killed more plants here
than most people have ever planted in their lives. Killed two hedges of
carobs, had to replant the tree lucerne several times (and yet they say
it‘s a weed!?) and even killed some saltbush and native pig face! For the
first two years literally it has been plant two, kill one. However times are
changing and I am delighted to realise that now I plant three and kill
one. I am winning!
One of the biggest problems with our home is how exposed it is to the
sun in summer. To create passive cooling and heating for our home we
have planted over 30 deciduous trees around the building. In time these
will shade our house in summer, keeping us cooler in summer and reducing some of the radiant heat off the walls
and paving. Being bare in winter they will allow the precious winter sunshine in. To shade the western side of the
house where we have a large deck and entertaining area, we have added a pergola and planted wisteria on it. I
have several lawns positioned to add to the cooling effect of the trees.
The other major issue is the salty water. We have been accessing water from our neighbour but I have only just
found out it has 2500ppm of salt. No wonder so many plants have died, and as a matter of fact it is amazing so
much has lived. We have put down our own bore which is 1500 ppm and we hope to have it connected to the
windmill which sits above it, and linked in to water the garden by this summer. Our own bore is still not ideal but it is
better than what we have been using. The garden is divided into watering zones. The high watering zone is the
vegie patch, watered every day or so in the heat. I have also created 9 wicking beds to make it easier to grow
produce. The moderate watering zone is the orchard and the garden immediately around the house, which gets
watered about once a week. The no watering zone will be the outer garden and driveway which should survive on
no supplementary watering once established, in another year or so.
Ironically I realise I have written about the ‗big picture‘ vision of our property, and not the plants. I am a passionate
plant lover and this garden is filled with common and many unusual plants which have done well in spite of the
challenges. There are far too many to mention, however let‘s just say that I am a regular at Tupelo Grove Nursery. I
keep trying things and am prepared to replant a variety several times before I
give up.
Our garden features a number of rustic creations by my talented husband
Richard using recycled or salvaged materials. Fortunately for me, he can build
anything I can dream up. He created metal cut outs of our kids which frame our
driveway, the sphere of garden tools and the wonderful gabion walls. The
sculpture on our front lawn is our house dragon called Luscious. She was built
at a working bee by our family and a few friends under the guidance of our dear
friend, community artist Irene Stone-Pearce, creator of the wonderful open
garden ‗Tickletank‘. Luscious was born in the year of the dragon and guards the
front of our house, and in time the three jacarandas will shade her and shower
her with purple.
Mediterranean Garden Society SA Branch
Spring 2014
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Hellebores
David Parker
(Carey Gully)
Who could fail to be smitten with hellebores? ask Burrell and Tyler in the first chapter of their book Hellebores 1.
I have to admit to being smitten. My delight in hellebores began more than 3 decades ago when some fairly basic
plants were available to the average gardener. David Glen was one of only a few people offering sales of
hellebores in Australia at that time, now there are many and the range of plants has increased considerably. In the
Gardener‘s Guide to Growing Hellebores2, Trevor Nottle reviewed the establishment of hellebores in Australia and
the horticulturalists responsible for their development. Although the earliest mention of hellebores in this country
appeared in 1898 Trevor was unable to find surviving plants that pre-dated the late 1920s.
Hellebores belong to the Ranunculaceae family and occur in the wild from Britain through Europe, with one species
in China (H. thibetanus) and another (H. vesicarius) on the border between Turkey and Syria. The majority however
are in Mediterranean countries, especially the Balkans 1. Perhaps it is not surprising given the variability of these
plants that developing a comprehensive classification for hellebores has proven so difficult. For the moment,
classification is based on those plants with (caulescent) and those without (acaulescent) stems, with an
acknowledgement that H. niger, H. vesicarius and H. thibetanus do not sit comfortably in this system. The
caulescent species consist of H. foetidus, H. argutifolius and H. lividus, while the acaulescent group comprises
more than 16 species, some of which have multiple sub-species that according to Burrell and Tyler1 might well be
elevated to species in their own right. The caulescent forms have leaves on their flowering stems, whereas the
acaulescent plants have basal leaves, although there are leafy bracts where the flower stalks branch.
Given the promiscuous nature of hellebores it is not surprising that so many hybrids have been produced. Seed
production is generally large and germination rates very high, so much so that it is wise to remove flowers before
seed is ready to fall. That‘s a pity as the sepals have turned green by then and the plants are a useful addition in
the late winter/spring garden. In the last two or three years
the nursery industry and enthusiasts have produced many
new and unusual hybrids apparently based on H. niger and
H. lividus crosses. H. niger (Christmas rose) is a low growing
plant with short flower stems supporting a horizontal-facing,
large white flower that turns pink in cold weather; this year
mine has produced more pinkness than previously. The
flowers of H. lividus are outward facing, bowl-like, but flatten
as they open and the leaves are stiff, saw-toothed and
mottled. The hybrid produced from these species is H.
ballardiae and two forms that I have are ‗Pink Frost‘ and one
of the ‗Winter Beauty‘ series ‗Cinnamon Snow‘. The flowers
of ‗Cinnamon Snow‘ open white, turn pink and fade to green
with pink overtones.
Particularly impressive among the newer releases of caulescent hybrids are Anna‘s Red and Penny‘s Pink, both
appear to have leaf structures that have similarities with H. lividus and flower forms showing evidence of H. niger.
Flower colour presumably results from the introduction of H. x hybridus. Whatever their parentage, both are
stunning hellebores with attractive foliage and tall stems of outward facing flowers. Anna‘s Red which is named
Mediterranean Garden Society SA Branch
Spring 2014
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after Anna Pavord, a plantswoman in the United Kingdom, is sterile; so
no babies. Another hybrid that I have not seen in Australia yet is H x
sahinii ‗Winterbells‘, a cross between H. niger and H. foetidus named
after its Dutch breeder Kees Sahin. It is described as having cream to
dusky pink large flowers growing to 30 cm and being ―resistant to deer‖!
Of the acaulescent species H. orientalis (Lenten rose) is possibly the
best known, perhaps in part because this terminology was used to
describe the Lenten Rose crosses. Now the hybrids of the acaulescent
species are correctly H. x hybridus, unless of course H. niger is
included with the acaulescent group. Breeders continue to produce a
plethora of hybrids of these species that results in single, semi-double
and double flowering forms from white to slate, from pale pink to
burgundy and apricot, primrose and green. Although I‘ve not seen a
double green form yet, Post Office Farm Nursery in Woodend, Victoria
has a double green and purple bicolour hellebore in its 2014 catalogue.
Picotee and reverse picotee, dark throated, painted, spotted, veined
and blotched are terms used to describe colour variations.
‘Anna’s Red’
Hellebores grow in a variety of soils, but like most plants like plenty of
humus and good drainage. In the Adelaide Hills they seem comfortable
with minimal shade in summer and some water. In hotter regions of Adelaide shade and water will be necessary.
They have quite a strong root system that develops quickly once seed geminates, but can be grown successfully in
pots. I prefer to use liquid seaweed-based fertilisers when transplanting and a complete fertiliser, such as that used
for roses and citrus, in spring; a second application in autumn is probably desirable too.
Hellebore flowers comprise five sepals
surrounding a ring of tubular or funnelshaped modified petals (nectaries), pistils
and rings of stamens. Between two and
eight carpels are usual with the stigmas
usually receptive before the host pollen is
released,
thus
encouraging
crosspollination. Double flowers result from the
mutation of nectaries to form petaloids
within the sepals.
Most pests seem to leave hellebores alone,
but this year snails have nibbled on the sepals of H. niger. Of more concern is the occurrence of black spot,
especially in damp regions of the garden and where air-flow between and within plants is restricted. Removal of at
least some leaves in May just before new flower spikes emerge is usually all that is required to prevent this fungal
disease.
Hellebores are an attractive cut flower, but they do tend to wilt especially if picked before fully open. I suggest that
freshly cut stems be placed in boiling water for about 20 seconds to reduce wilting. Alternatively flower heads can be
cut and floated in an open bowl and generally last well. Fanelli and Dole concluded that the use of holding
preservatives increased the vase life of flowers from approximately 10 days (in the absence of preservative) to 17
days, whether stamens had been shed from the flowers when cut or not made no difference to longevity and that
multiple flowers on stems increased vase life3.
It will be interesting to see what next autumn brings in new hellebore hybrids. Certainly there appear to be new forms
available in the USA, UK and western Europe that have not reached our retailers. If new hybrids do appear the
problem that arises is where to plant them, but isn‘t lack of space a problem we all face!
1
Burrell CC and Tyler JK. Hellebores: a comprehensive guide. Portland, Oregon, USA: Timber Press, Inc.; 2006.
Rice G and Strangman E. The Gardeners Guide to Growing Hellebores. Newton Abbot, Devon, England; LEGO SpA for
David and Charles; 1993.
3.
Fanelli FL and Dole JM. Hellebores as Cut Flowers. Appendix D of reference 1. Originally printed in The Cut Flower Quarterly,
vol 17 (1).
2
Mediterranean Garden Society SA Branch
Spring 2014
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Scents of an Anlaby childhood
Kate Chattaway
The overwhelming memories of Emily Dutton‘s garden
at Anlaby for granddaughter Leonie Matheson are of
the most beautiful floral fragrances from hundreds of
roses and the scent of Osage oranges.
Emily Dutton (1884-1962), wife of Anlaby owner Henry
Dutton, was a beautiful socialite, artist and musician.
She was painted by the famous Australian artist
George Lambert and in her time, turned the head of the
King of Greece. Privately she was a passionate
gardener and a woman of great energy and courage.
One claim to fame was that she was the first woman to
make a trip in a motor car overland from Oodnadatta to
Katherine in 1921.
―My grandmother lived in the big house and we lived in
what was called the cottage,‖ said Leonie, now in her
late seventies. ―Then when the war came and my
father died, we moved to town. But I would always go
back to stay with my grandmother. It was magic…I had
a tricycle and I had a dog, which was my
grandmother‘s. I would ride about the garden paths and
there was always a lovely smell around the place. She
would come out and we would go and pick flowers. So
the garden came into the house and the house always
smelled nice.
I particularly remember the scent of Osage oranges –
there was a whole walk of those. We used to have
picnics. My grandmother would make small
sandwiches and we would go and sit on seats by the
cypress hedges. The seats were made by disabled
soldiers after the First World War and they all had little
round plaques on them. They were made out of
Nelson‘s men of war, the hulks that were left in the
River Thames.‖
Leonie remembers that her grandmother had planted
primroses around the pergola walk at Anlaby and
treasures the memory of gathering the flowers with her
Mediterranean Garden Society SA Branch
grandmother to make small posies. She also recalls
how her grandmother ingeniously distracted her when
there was an eclipse of the sun. ―We went and picked
roses and painted them so I would not look up at the
sun,‖ said Leonie. ―She was a very good artist - there
was always something interesting like that going on.‖
Her grandmother loved the lilacs and magnolias in the
garden and was particularly fond of bulbs, which she
bought in great quantity from nurseries in England.
The garden also provided flowers to mark special
events. ―When I had a baby she sent me the most
wonderful dress box full of tree peonies which were
grown just below the balustrade at the bottom of the
garden,‖ recalled Leonie.
Emily battled with the harsh gardening conditions at
Anlaby but was determined not to lose her most prized
plants. ―When
there was a
drought,
my
mother
was
always finding
packages,
mostly
in
newspaper, of
dahlias
and
things like that
my
grandmother
had dug up
and treasures
in pots sent
down for Mum
to look after,
Anlaby water tower used to pump water so they could
go back to
under pressure to the garden
Anlaby when
the drought broke,‖ she said.
Without any quarantine into Australia, it was easy for
Emily to import plants from her European travels and
to order whatever bulbs and seeds were available
from English nurseries. Many plants had a history:
horticultural souvenirs from the Golden Gate at
Constantinople; a rock rose from the Island of Rhodes
and plants plucked from a Grecian temple on a
headland overlooking the Mediterranean.
Like many gardeners, Emily Dutton loved to exchange
plants and did so with many of her friends including
Lady Heysen at the Cedars in Hahndorf. She had a
particular part of the garden at Anlaby where she
hoarded her horticultural treasures in what is still called
Emily‘s garden.
Spring 2014
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The Anlaby Heritage Tree Collection
Peter Hayward.
open from 10.30 am to 4.30 pm on each of these days.
Entry fee $10 per person
Melbourne-based heritage tree researcher, Charlie
Buttigieg, recently completed a comprehensive
research project on the trees of one of South
Australia‘s most important pastoral properties, Anlaby,
in the Barossa Valley. This work which commenced in
February 2012 came to be known as ―The Anlaby
Heritage Tree Project‖. Completion of the project in
July 2014 coincides with the 175th anniversary of the
establishment of the Anlaby merino stud in 1839.
A fascinating garden restoration project and work in
progress on a grand scale. Home to one of Australia‘s
largest collections of registered significant trees.
The project looked at various elements of the trees and
their history and in the process unearthed the hidden
secrets of a collection that includes both natives and
exotics. The work focussed not only on the trees but
also on the men and women of vision who sourced and
planted them over 100 years ago.
Devonshire teas, lunches and refreshments available.
Gift shop and plant stalls will also be open. Garden
sculpture and painting exhibitions and sales.
Directions:
Take the Thiele Highway from Kapunda towards
Eudunda. 5 km from Kapunda you will see the ―E20‖
sign. Slow down and turn left into Anlaby Road. Follow
Anlaby Road and in about 8 km you will see the gates
to Anlaby. Turn into the driveway and in about 2 km
follow the signs to the parking area.
Phone 08 8566 2465
www.anlaby.com.au
The results of this research include:
620 tree specimens covered by 60 National Trust of
South Australia heritage registrations,
4 trees of national significance,
The first confirmed oak hybrid (Quercus x coutinhoi)
of its type in Australian botanical history,
A privately planted World War One Memorial of three
Algerian Oaks for the three farm workers from the
property that lost their lives in the Great War,
7 registrations with specimens in the dried reference
collections of the National Herbarium of Victoria,
the State Herbarium of South Australia and the Sir
Harold Hillier Herbarium in the United Kingdom,
Two internationally published articles in a specialist
tree journal resulting from two of the registrations.
Anlaby has the largest collection of National Trust
registered heritage trees in one location under private
ownership in Australia.
The garden at historic Anlaby homestead will be open
on Saturday 25th and Sunday 26th October 2014 as
part of Open Gardens Australia. The grounds will be
Mediterranean Garden Society SA Branch
Restoration of Anlaby
A presentation by Andrew Morphett to SAMGS
in July 2014
summary by Kate Chattaway
Stamina, vision, deep pockets - and perhaps a touch of
madness, would have to be just some of the
prerequisites for taking on the historic garden at
Anlaby Station, the oldest merino stud in South
Australia - dating back to 1839.
That is what current owners Andrew Morphett and
Peter Hayward brought to the property located close to
Kapunda when they purchased it 10 years ago. The
story of Anlaby and the heroic restoration project by
Andrew and Peter was the presentation at the MGS
AGM in July.
This year Anlaby celebrates its 175 anniversary by
opening with Open Gardens Australia at the end of
October. In 1911, the property was described as being
―of no particular beauty architecturally‖ in The Pastoral
Review, however it went on to state that the gardens
were ―unique‖. The garden in its present form extends
to four hectares with magnificent mature trees framing
heritage rose beds and Victorian rockeries.
Since Anlaby was remote from Adelaide, it started out
as a self sustaining community with a garden to
provide food for the 70 people who worked the sheep
station. Over time as the pastoral property prospered
and wealth was created, the garden was transformed
into decorative pleasure grounds where the Dutton
family, the owners of Anlaby, would entertain.
Money was poured into the garden on a grand scale
with plants and seeds ordered from England and
Spring 2014
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agents sent out to bring back special plants and trees
from exotic places such as Japan. There was a
massive greenhouse to provide table grapes year
round, an orchid house and a fernery. The Duttons built
a three storey water tower to pump water under
pressure back to the garden.
area of 1m2 and is probably easier to source as
‗Proteaflora‘ distributes it.
As on an English country estate, a head gardener was
employed with as many as 14 gardeners, according to
Andrew, to care for the garden before the First World
War. The stories of Anlaby are many but one that is
particularly poignant is that three Algerian oaks were
planted as a private memorial to three estate workers
who were killed in the conflict.
Andrew said that at one stage Anlaby extended to
almost 65,000 hectares but the property lost land taken
back by the government after the Second World War
and the garden went into a decline in following
decades.
Andrew and Peter are breathing new life into the
garden, restoring beds of heritage plants which are no
longer available and using ingenuity to find alternatives
which will create the same effect. There have been
some significant finds in the process of revitalizing the
garden, including a rose called ‗Squatter‘s Dream‖, an
Alistair Clark rose bred in 1923. It was assumed to be
lost but has now been commercially re-launched
thanks to the specimen found at Anlaby.
The trees are a significant feature of the property, like
the magnificent Golden Deodar, Cedrus deodara
„Aurea‟. A two year survey of the trees was recently
completed by a Melbourne based heritage tree
researcher, who concluded that Anlaby boasts four
trees of national significance, including a unique oak
hybrid called Quercus x coutinhoi, which is the only
known example in Australia, and the largest collection
of significantly registered trees in the country.
Groundcover Leucospermums
Nieve Smyth (Perth W.A.)
On a recent nursery visit to Muchea tree farm (about
50km north of Perth), I saw this amazing groundcover
leucospermum called ‗Groundfire‘. On first sight it
looked rather like a prostrate acacia with small bulbous
yellow flowers, but then I had a better look…..
‗Groundfire‘ is a low growing mat-forming groundcover
that covers an area of 1-2 square metres. The flowers
open up yellow, then as they age they become orange
and then bright red, so you can get all the colours on
the plant at the same time. It flowers from spring to
autumn.
There is also another cultivar available this year called
‗Hullabaloo‘ that has lovely cream flowers. It covers an
Mediterranean Garden Society SA Branch
‘Groundfire’
As the soils in the Perth metropolitan area are alkaline,
plants do better in pots but they are fantastic in the hills
and south-west where the soils are more acidic.
Invitation to Members
Lynn Elzinga-Henry
Opening the garden informally for other members to
visit is a great way of sharing ideas and your own trials
and tribulations without all the angst that comes with
being in the Open Garden scheme. To that end, and
because we have recently given the garden a bit of a
spruce up I would like to extend an invitation to
SAMGS members to drop by and have a wander
anytime between 1.00 and 4.00pm on Sunday,
October 12.
I can promise whoever turns up it will be an eminently
casual affair with abundant weeds should you go
looking. Our 2.5 acre garden is not for the faint hearted
with lots of steps and rough tracks but it is also full of
fun and surprises and inevitably, unfinished projects.
1 Shurdington Rd
Crafers Ph: 0422 626 155
Please park at the freeway end of Shurdington Rd and
enter through the big bird gates with coloured glass.
Seeds of Peace
A small business venture by Israeli member Oron
Peri.
Oron is a frequent contributor to the MGS Forum often
posting comments and images about the bulbous
plants of his part of the world. Collecting wild seed for
commercial use is prohibited in Israel and plants in
many habitats are in grave danger of extinction due to
ever-expanding farms, tourism, settlements and of
course the never-ending strife over borders.
Oron has begun in a small way, to farm many plants
and harvest the seed which he is now offering for sale
through his business.
Contact Oron at [email protected]
Spring 2014
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lilies were also planted to provide a blue and pink
colour combination in summer. Unfortunately the
vigorous nature of the plumbago means that it tends to
shade the lilies and prevents them from flowering well.
More Open Gardens
Gleeville
1 Dashwood Rd, Beaumont
September 28-29
From the veranda on the northern side of the house at
1 Dashwood Rd, Beaumont, one can just make out the
city between the trees, but in this garden of nearly 2
acres it is possible to forget you are in the middle of
suburbia. The veranda provides a lovely aspect over
the garden and it is where, over cups of tea, new plans
and projects for the garden are devised. This spring the
garden will be open for the first time as part of the
Australia-wide Open Garden scheme on the last
weekend in September. I urge everyone to take
advantage of this rare opportunity to visit a garden
which retains the charm of bygone eras.
The garden has an interesting history with the original
owner, Edward Gleeson, building a house and barn to
house his prized Arab stallion in 1838/39. This
September the barn will host a pop-up garden cafe
serving espresso coffees and home-baked goods. In
1846 the property was sold to Samuel Davenport for
£700 and then in 1863 John Fullerton Cleland
purchased the area known as ‗Gleeville under the
Hills‘. Since this time five generations of Clelands have
resided at the address. This includes Sir John Cleland
and his daughter, Joan Paton, both of whom had a
keen interest in natural history and conservation.
The garden originates from the 1830s, and has for
many years been roughly divided into two parts. The
eastern side has an orchard of mixed fruit and nut
trees, chook and duck yards and vegetable beds, while
to the west are ornamental plantings. Some of the
strong design elements originate from previous
generations. For example the plumbago hedge, which
my grandmother could recall planting with her mother,
Mediterranean Garden Society SA Branch
The plumbago is at its best in mid-summer and we
have found that a hard prune in July ensures a good
flowering in time for Christmas.
The garden has undergone many changes over the
years, particularly in the last decade, in part a
response to the water restrictions of a few years ago. A
garden of this size which has no automated watering
system is very challenging to keep well watered over
summer, particularly with the strong gully winds.
Numerous rainwater tanks have been added to reduce
reliance on mains water but these do not go very far in
a garden of this size. Plants receiving generous
waterings have to be prioritised and much of the
rainwater goes to the vegetable garden and fruit trees.
In the orchard some things have failed. The old walnut
trees, which during my childhood provided a shady
leafy haven for us to climb, succumbed to the intense
heat and limited water. On the other hand many old
fruit trees such as the figs, plums and pears continue
to crop well. Citrus trees also produce excellent crops
when provided with regular but moderate amounts of
water. Outside the productive garden many of the
ornamental beds now contain a blend of Australian
natives, succulents and hardy perennials. This garden
has many excellent examples of hardy tough plants for
Adelaide gardens. Friends and family have been
assisting us with propagating over 2000 plants for our
fundraising plant sale, so be sure to check out these
home-grown treasures on the day.
There are many highlights of a garden like this, but two
of my favourite seasonal flowerings are the selfseeding hollyhocks that provide a kaleidoscope of
colour through the orchard in summer and the many
old fashioned bearded iris that send up flower stems in
spring. One of the transformations to reduce reliance
on water and to increase the garden‘s resilience to
heat has been the bougainvilleas. Potted plants
provide bursts of colour in summer and in several
places bougainvilleas have replaced the more
traditional climbing rose and out-performed them by
far.
Finally, mention must be made of the trees which form
the backbone of the garden. The towering Norfolk
Island Pine (planted mid 1800s) can be seen for miles
around and still has my Dad‘s tree house perched up
in its horizontal limbs (he boasts about its construction
Spring 2014
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and longevity as it was built more than 45 years ago).
There are also some large eucalypts, a SA blue gum,
an original grey box and a lemon-scented gum planted
to commemorate peace in 1945. There are still old
olives from Davenport‘s time, fragments of the once
extensive olive grove, and the gnarled old trunks and
silvery-blue leaves form a lovely backdrop to this
garden. In late winter the almonds, some of which are
derived from the original pink-flowering Brandis,
provide a stunning display.
I look forward to sharing this special place with many
fellow gardeners on the weekend of 27th and 28th
September. The garden of Samuel Davenport‘s historic
residence, Beaumont House, which is just up the road
will also be open on Sunday 28th September.
Lydia Paton
South Australia’s first Mediterranean
Gardener
Beaumont House
631 Glynburn Road
September 28
As a very young Englishman, Samuel Davenport dived
into an ice-cold stream to save a person from
drowning. He saved him but for years after he suffered
from a lung ―affection‖ because of his brave act. His
family sent him to the south of France for the benefit of
his health. He ended up in Montpellier, then as now, a
centre for wine making and the culture of vines, olives
and almonds. It is thought that he stayed there for two
years studying fruit growing arboriculture which would
prove very useful in later years.
Samuel Davenport, aged 24, with his new wife
Margaret and his brother Robert arrived in Adelaide in
February 1843 and settled at Macclesfield where they
began farming. He clearly identified that the climate
and environment here was similar to the Mediterranean
countries he had visited so he wrote to his family
asking them to send out books on the growing of vines,
figs, olives and on winemaking. By 1845 he had crops
of wheat, oats, barley and had planted 1000 vines,
1000 almonds as well as peaches, apricots
strawberries, apples, plums and currants. In addition he
had livestock consisting of 100 cattle, 1000 sheep and
a few pigs and horses.
In April 1846 Davenport accepted the offer to become a
member of the Legislative Council so began to look for
land closer to Adelaide as commuting by horseback
from Macclesfield was not practical! He bought
Gleeville Farm (first purchased by Edward Gleeson in
1838) which he later called Beaumont and lived there
until Bishop Short, to whom he had sold the section
where Beaumont House now stands, moved into the
Mediterranean Garden Society SA Branch
newly built Bishops Court in North Adelaide in 1857.
In Beaumont, Davenport planted extensive vineyards,
olive groves and almonds. He also experimented with
plants that could be used in the making of perfume, in
particular roses, lavender, jasmine, iris and oranges.
He planted Pinus pinea for the pine nuts, and also
grew figs. He tried to establish a silk industry as he
identified that the conditions were right for growing the
white mulberry (Morus alba).
Davenport was a very enthusiastic gardener and was
an influential member of the Royal Agricultural and
Horticultural Society, a member of the board of the
Adelaide Botanic Garden and was friends with the first
two directors George Francis and Richard Schomburgk
as well as with Ferdinand Von Mueller who later
became director of the Melbourne Botanic garden.
Many of the trees planted by Davenport at Beaumont
have survived and can be visited on September 28
when Beaumont House (631 Glynburn Road) and
Gleeville (1 Dashwood Road) will be open as part of
Open Gardens Australia spring program. There will be
guided tours of the house and garden, teas,
sculptures, scarecrows and plants for sale as well as a
performance by the Scotch College pipe band.
A number of MGS members volunteer in the Beaumont
House garden on Wednesday mornings from 9-12. If
you would like to join us contact Merilyn on
[email protected] or contact the National
Trust on 8202 9200.
Winter wimps and wonders
Merilyn Kuchel (Stirling)
With some welcome sunshine after weeks of cold, wet
and overcast wintry weather I ventured out into the
garden to assess the frost damage. At first glance it
looked pretty grim, the montanoas, brugsmansias,
plectranthus and jacaranda appeared to be mortally
wounded, what leaves remained were hanging limp
and brown. The leaves on the cliveas have turned to
mush and most of the salvias looked very sad. Duranta
repens, Fuchsia magellanica, Tecomaria capensis
have all been affected as have the plumbagoes,
gingers and lavenders. However, I am reasonably
confident that most of these will in fact recover (as they
have done after previous winters) provided that I resist
the temptation to cut back the ‗burnt‘ foliage which if
left should protect new shoots and buds from any
further late frosts. I was delighted and surprised that
the Wollemi pine which has been badly set back
almost every winter since it was planted in 2006 looks
fine even though this year I forgot to apply the
protectant ‗Droughtshield‘ prior to the frosty nights. It is
Spring 2014
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now almost 2m tall and looks quite healthy and strong
despite the cold.
Happily, after years of natural and deliberate selection,
the cheerful sight of winter blooms far outweighs the
frost bitten disappointments with many cold loving
plants showing off their hardiness. Top August performers include many bulbs; daffodils, jonquils, snowflakes,
Roman hyacinths, cyclamen and dwarf gladiolus. There
are plenty of hardy winter flowering perennials such as
hellebores, euphorbias, arums, violets, wallflowers and
pink rosemary smothered in blooms. White and purple
honesty (Lunaria biennis) and forget-me-nots Myositis
sylvaticus have started to flower and the burgundy
leaves of the giant red mustard are striking. In the
shrub department, both the scarlet and the white
Chaenomeles japonica are flowering profusely, as are
several mahonias, abutilons, Viburnum tinus and the
glorious perfumed Daphne odora. The weather conditions during late summer and autumn were obviously
ideal for camellias as we have had a continuous flowering from the early sasanquas in May and June through
to the japonicas and my all time favourite C x williamsii
Margaret Waterhouse which carpets the ground beneath with its clear pink petals.
And of course no discussion of wonderful winter plants
should ignore the wide range of Australian plants which
are at their best in late winter regardless of low temperatures. Grevilleas, correas, banksias hardenbergias
and acacias are striking examples of natives which go
into a summer dormancy and then begin their growth
cycle in autumn peaking with their floral display when
soil moisture is guaranteed during the winter months.
shops were hugely enjoyable, frustrating at first as we
struggled to master our ten thumbs and then
pleasantly meditative as we grew more proficient. The
Basketry SA weavers are a very sociable and
generous group happy to share their time and
expertise (they will again be contributing to Sophie
Thomson‘s display garden at the royal show this year)
and made several very attractive and quirky sculptures
at Pam White‘s open garden last month as well as
demonstrating their craft.
The Botanic Gardens of South Australia
presents
Economic Botany Today
A study of practical ecological
biochemistry for humans
Which brings me to conclude with one of those delightful poems I remember from my childhood.
Presented by
Professor David Mabberley
The bush was grey a week today
27-28 October, 2014
9.00 am - 5.00 pm
Cost: $795
(Olive-green, and brown, and grey)
But now the spring has come our way
With blossom for the wattle.
To secure a place contact
botanicgardens.sa.gov.au
08 8222 9311
(Veronica Mason)
Weaving with garden plants.
Merilyn Kuchel
It all began at the April meeting when members were
fascinated by the presentation of Bev Manthey from
Basketry SA Inc. So inspired were we that a number of
SAMGS members signed up to do the three Weaving
Magic workshops run by Deb Cantrill from Nirvana
Farm in the Hills. She showed us how to collect and
prepare weaving materials from prunings and leaves
collected from the garden (interestingly some weedy
species are the most useful such as watsonias and
willows) and how to make simple baskets, garden fences, screens, tripods and random sculptures. The work
Mediterranean Garden Society SA Branch
Professor Mabberley, formerly Director of the
Herbarium, Library, Art and Archives, Royal
Botanic Gardens Kew and Executive Director of
the Royal Botanic Gardens & Domain Trust in
Sydney will present 6 lecture-demonstrations,
supplemented by economic plant material from
the rich collections of the Botanic Gardens of
South Australia, the State Herbarium and
commercial products.
Morning and afternoon tea and lunch provided
Spring 2014
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Tennyson Dunes Open Day
Sunday September 28
11.00am to 2.00pm
Take a walk with renowned author and Australian
native plant expert Neville Bonney. He will talk about
the way Aboriginal people used native plants before
settlement.
Learn about the unique plants, animals and birdlife of
the dunes and what we are doing to preserve them.
Experts will be on hand to answer questions about the
dunes. We will have plants to give away and the West
Lakes Kiwanis will host a sausage sizzle.
An Urgent Notice from your
Committee
Have you paid your 2014-15 subscription yet?
If you haven‘t then this is the last Newsletter
you will receive until such time as you become
financial.
Walks leave from the Tennyson dunes car park,
Military Road, Tennyson, Bus stop 32A
Please contact Lynn Elzinga-Henry if you have a
concern about your membership, otherwise send a
cheque to SAMGS, PO Box 199, Glen Osmond SA
5064, pay Lynn at the next SAMGS meeting on
September 11 or transfer funds into the Branch
Account as follows:
Watch out for the signs
SA Branch of the Mediterranean Garden Society
www.tennysondunes.org.au
www.facebook.com/TennysonDunesGroup
BSB 035 010
A/c No. 144235
Please record your name with this transfer otherwise
Lynn will not know you have paid!
Flowers for Christmas
Florists and MGS members Marg Wilkinson and Di
Flower Show & Plant Sale
Saturday and Sunday October 11 and 12
Stirling Angus Hall, Adelaide Showgrounds
Saturday - 10.00am to 5.00 pm
Sunday - 10.00am to 4.00 pm
Over 10,000 plants for sale, most at $5.
All plants have been grown in SA
Wark will be sharing their tricks of the trade to create
stunning floral decorations for the Christmas table on
November 13 at Mitcham. The $40 charge covers a
garden lunch in the shade of elm trees against a
backdrop of eucalypts and Australian natives.
Displays of rare and unusual Australian flowers
Workshops include:
Kevin Handreck – Soils
Dean Nicolle – Eucalypts for small gardens
Pruning Australian native plants
Book online at www.opengarden.org.au
or call (03) 5427 1488
Private garden opening:
Lochert Garden at Ramco, Waikerie
October 18-19
Hands-on propagation
Create your own flower arrangement.
Children‘s activities
Free soil testing and advice
Entry $3.
This year the show will feature container plants.
or
October 22-25 by appointment only
A list of plants available and times of talks and
workshops will be on our website the week before the
sale.
‘Cauliflower is nothing but a
www.australianplantssa.asn.au
cabbage with a college
‘Gardening is not a rational act’
education’
Margaret Atwood
Mark Twain
Mediterranean Garden Society SA Branch
Spring 2014
22
We always need articles for the Newsletter, so please write something for the summer edition. It
takes a little time, but is not difficult. So tell your fellow gardeners about something special in your
garden and add a photograph or two. Articles will be due in mid November.
Ines and David
The photograph below was taken by Rosey Boehm during the 2011 Australian Landscape Design
Conference tour at ‗Alton‘, Mount Macedon, Victoria.
The South Australian Branch of the Mediterranean Garden Society
Committee 2013- 2014
PO Box 199, Glen Osmond, South Australia, 5064
Branch Head
Deputy Branch Head
Treasurer
Assistant Treasurer
Minutes Secretary
Correspondence
Membership Officers
Trevor Nottle
Kate Chattaway
Mark Barnett
Lynn Elzinga-Henry
Leslie Thompson
Margaret Beard
Lynn Elzinga-Henry
Virginia Kennett
Editorial Committee
Ines Parker
David Parker
Website Coordinator
Rosey Boehm
Volunteer Coordinators Kate Chattaway
Catering Coordinator
Leslie Thompson
Plant Sales Coordinator Robyn Powell
Communications Coord Carolyn Armstrong
Raffle
Wendy Chapman
Committee Member
Merilyn Kuchel
Mediterranean Garden Society SA Branch
8339 4210
8276 8780
8370 8831
8339 6237
8332 8442
8431 5740
8339 6237
8379 2001
8390 0558
8390 0558
0418848103
8276 8780
8332 8442
8388 5456
8225 5352
0423781084
8339 5987
Spring 2014
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[email protected]
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[email protected]
[email protected]
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23
Life begins the day you
start a garden
Chinese Proverb
Mediterranean Garden Society SA Branch
Spring 2014
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